The invention relates to a system for remotely controlling power at a plurality of customer premises and to a controller for use in such a system at customer premises. In particular the invention relates to a system whereby control instructions on which a controller at the customer premises acts are transmitted from a central location to the individual controllers by means of a paging network. Thus, each individual controller includes a paging receiver for receiving control instruction for acting upon at the customer premises.
Remote control systems are known that are capable of generating and transmitting control signals to remotely control electrical equipment. Electric utility companies utilise a private remote control system with a private radio network to remotely control on/off switching of capacitor banks in accordance with daily electric power requirements. Such systems are however expensive in that they require the creation and maintenance of a private radio network.